Recorded in many forms including Thorp, Thorpe, Throp, Trop, Troop, Troup, Troupe, Thrupp, Trippe, and others, this is an English surname of Scandinavian Viking origins. It is residential from any of the many places in England called Thorp or Thorpe, or the rarer Olde English pre 7th century "Throp". As a placename it indicated that it was an area of Vilking settlement, and a small outlying hamlet or village that was probably dependant on a larger village usually three miles away or thereabouts. Residential or locational surnames were usually either those of the local lord of the manor, that of former inhabitants who had moved to another area, usually in search of work, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. Early examples of the surname recording include John de Trope of Worcester in the Hundred Rolls of 1327, and William Thorp, an early emigrant to the American Colonies. He left London on the ship "Expectation" in April 1635, bound for the Island of Providence and was accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth, and their two year old daughter. A coat of arms associated with the surname has the blazon of a silver shield charged with a red lion salient, and an orle of fleurs-de-lis in blue. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Torp. This was dated 1158, in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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